dictate

dictated but not read

Copied into text through dictation but not written or proofread by the author. (Sometimes shortened to "dictated, not read.") Used as a warning that said text requires extra attention, as it may not read exactly as intended by the author. It always aggravates me to receive a letter marked as "dictated but not read"—if a person wants to write something to me, the least they could do is check it beforehand to make sure it's correct!

dictate (something) to someone

1. to speak out words to someone who writes them down; to speak words into a recording device to be written down later by someone. Walter dictated a letter to his secretary.Please come in so I can dictate to you.

2. to lay out or spell out the exact terms of something to someone; to act as a dictator. You can't dictate the rules to us.Please don't dictate to me.

By creating a system of obscenity law based on "community standards," Chief Justice Warren Burger was trying to prevent the standards of acceptability in New York City or San Francisco from dictating the standards of Kansas City or Norman, Oklahoma.

The code covers HVAC, plumbing, lighting and electricity and the building envelope, and has a number of provisions dictating that the substantial portion of a renovation -- usually 50 percent of more of a system measured in units appropriate to that system -- must follow the code.

Designed specifically for the legal professional and their support staff, MacSpeech Dictate Legal empowers dictating text directly into applications, and issuing numerous commands by voice, on the Macintosh.

Designed specifically for the medical and dental professional and their support staff, MacSpeech Dictate Medical empowers dictating text directly into applications and practice management systems, and issuing numerous commands by voice, on the Macintosh.

Users press one button on the smartphone to open infinite possibilities: effortlessly navigating a large music collection, quickly conducting Web searches, dictating emails, having incoming mail read aloud, and more.

Physicians can interact with the system in whatever method they are most comfortable with - dictating via phone, microphone or mobile recording device - and can choose to delegate the final editing of the speech-recognized report to a transcriptionist or self-complete the document.

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